A1 Team Malaysia will be back to its former best this season according to Zandvoort Sprint race winner, Fairuz Fauzy.
Fauzy took his first, and the team’s fifth, ever A1GP victory with his mesmerising performance in the soaking wet conditions at the Dutch circuit, and believes the team is set to return to the form it experienced in the first two seasons of A1GP.
It marked the end of barren run for the team. The win finished a 25-race streak without scoring a victory, or even a podium finish. The team had finished fifth and sixth in the first two A1GP seasons respectively, however, it plummeted to finish 15th last season.
However, 25-year-old Fauzy is confident the team will be a front-runner again in what is the new A1GP Powered by Ferrari car era.
“For sure, we are back,” Fauzy told A1GP.com. “I am here, the team is here and of course we want to be the best and on top of the world. This is such a great series and we want to win it.
“We had a good season in the first and second year, but last season was very bad for us, so it’s great to come back strong for the first opening round. The result was amazing.”
That win, backed up with second place in the Sprint race, means Malaysia leads the A1GP championship standings for the first time in its history. It has the same number of points as Feature race winner France, but takes the lead on a tie-break thanks to the number of second places it already has.
“Of course, I am looking to try to do my best for the championship,” added Fauzy. “But it’s going to be very tough. I’m not saying we’re are going to win it but we’re going to do what we can to develop the car to the next level where we feel comfortable to race hard at the front. At the moment, everyone is starting to learn the car and we need to be the team to find all the little set-up tricks out first. We just need to keep pushing and concentrating on the next one.
“The objective of the Zandvoort weekend was to collect as many points as we could, but to win the Sprint race and finish second in the Feature race was fantastic.”
No driver announcement has been made for the team for A1GP Chengdu, China next month, however, with Fauzy hitting form as the new season starts, many would expect it is a formality that he will be recalled. It is likely to be a key decision, with the following round of the series taking place in front of a partisan home crowd in Sepang, Malaysia on November 23.
Source: A1GP
